SKATEBOARDING; On a Mission, and Rolling

By MATT HIGGINS

Published: July 26, 2006

A year-old group of professional female skateboarders is looking at ESPN's X Games early next month as a chance to take a step toward its goal of improving the status of women in action sports.

The pay for female skateboarders has been a fraction of what their male counterparts receive, and the women's events did not air on television last year.

Equalizing matters could be a daunting struggle for the group, the Action Sports Alliance, a not-for-profit organization founded in 2005 to look after the interests of professional female skateboarders.

''When you're on television, you're seen by a lot more people,'' said Jen O'Brien, a board member of the alliance and a 2003 X Games silver medalist. ''The more coverage you get, the more you're worth.''

To get ESPN's attention, the female skateboarders threatened a boycott of the 2005 X Games. A showdown was avoided when both sides agreed to talk after the games, and ESPN acceded to some of the alliance's requests.

O'Brien and Cara-Beth Burnside, the president of the alliance's board of directors, have been added to the X Games selection committee, which had been exclusively male. In addition, the winner of the women's street and vert events will make $5,000, up from $2,000 a year ago. The men's winner made $50,000.

''Two thousand dollars for first place, for being the best in your sport,'' Burnside said of last year's top prize. ''Maybe if I was 16 that would be cool.

''We don't want what the guys are getting,'' she added. ''But we want something respectable.''

But the female skateboarders face obstacles more challenging than the ramps, curbs, hedgerows and benches they are accustomed to vaulting. Nothing resembling Title IX's federal legislation promoting gender equity in sports exists in network boardrooms, where the skateboarders face television executives who are focused on ratings.

Chris Stiepock, general manager of the X Games, which will be conducted Aug. 3-6 in Los Angeles, said ESPN cannot afford adding more programming for women's skateboarding without suffering a ratings decline.

''There's only room for so many sports,'' Stiepock said. ''Our ultimate responsibility is to our viewer, and our viewer is a male teen.''

Stiepock said ESPN's studies show that women's action sports lag far behind men's in popularity and participation. The exceptions are skiing and snowboarding, two events featured at the Winter X Games.

Stiepock said ESPN would like to add women's surfing to the summer offerings and broadcast the event on television, but it would require eliminating another sport.

After last year's X Games, some members of the alliance sought support from the Women's Sports Foundation, an organization that promotes the causes of women and girls in sports. Donna Lopiano, the foundation's chief executive, said that representatives from her organization have talked to their counterparts at the X Games about the alliance's concerns. Although she said she does not expect immediate results, Lopiano said she intends to keep pressing ESPN with recommendations to improve opportunities for women.

''ESPN has done a lot for women's sports,'' she said. ''Going forward, when they see these recommendations, we hope there will be change.''

Change is what the alliance, which has about 30 members, is seeking. In the 39-year-old Burnside, the alliance seems to have found a leader. An action sports icon, Burnside competed in the 1998 Winter Olympics in snowboarding halfpipe, finishing fourth, and she has won a slew of medals at the X Games and Winter X Games during the past 10 years.

At the 2005 Games, she won a gold medal in the skateboard vert event, where riders pull maneuvers on a massive halfpipe ramp.

''When I started skateboarding, the only girl I saw was Cara-Beth Burnside,'' O'Brien said. ''She was an inspiration to me.''

Although Burnside receives a salary from sponsors, she estimated only a half-dozen other women worldwide earn a living exclusively from skateboarding. Sponsorship money and contest winnings do not amount to much in a sport where the idea of gender equity has just begun to gain traction.

Still, members of the alliance are mindful that in recent years other action sports where women feature prominently, such as inline skating and wakeboarding, have been dropped from the X Games.

Acknowledging the vulnerability of her sport, Burnside said, ''Should I skate for nothing and just feel lucky to be there?''

Photos: ''Should I skate for nothing and just feel lucky to be there?'' Cara-Beth Burnside said.; Mimi Knoop is among the professional female skateboarders seeking more prize money and visibility as part of the Action Sports Alliance. (Photographs by Patty Segovia/All Girl Skate Jam)